Hello!
I'm CGilbert, but feel free to call me Charles. I'm 23 and from 'sunny' England.
I've been lurking on the wiki on and off again for about a year now, but have finally got up the courage to join (mainly because Dyspraxia + application forms = anxiety attacks) (that's my not-so-subtle hint that I have Dyspraxia by the way).
I'm a highly avid reader of both the fantasy and sci-fi genres, and wish to become an author myself, but my Dyspraxia keeps tripping me up. Hopefully by joining and taking part in the community I will be able to improve my skills, and even if I never become an author, I hope to at least get my writing quality on par with the rest of this site.
I have a degree in geology, as well as a general interest in both science and history, but I wouldn't call myself an expert on any of those topics.
I can't really think of anything else to say, so hello!

Wow, England! Have a favorite tea? :P I tried Earl Grey once… too bitter. I usually stick with chrysanthemum or jasmine, myself.

Always nice to have a lurker join. For the record, you're definitely not the only one here with such a condition, and if anyone gives you a hard time about your Dyspraxia, contact staff and we'll sort it out.

I don't have a favourite tea. Actually, to be perfectly honest, I don't like tea at all. I know, I know, an Englishman not liking tea! It's almost heretical. But every time I've tried it, it just tastes like hot water with a bit of grass mixed in. I don't know, maybe I'm doing it wrong.

As for the geology pun—eh, at least it wasn't a cleavage or hardness joke. Or something ruder. Geology is a very… immature science, probably because it's only 40-50 years old, whereas chemistry, biology and physics are descended from the ancient Greeks and their natural philosophy.

The study of the physical material of the Earth dates back at least to ancient Greece when Theophrastus (372-287 BCE) wrote the work Peri Lithon (On Stones). During the Roman period, Pliny the Elder wrote in detail of the many minerals and metals then in practical use - even correctly noting the origin of amber.

Some modern scholars, such as Fielding H. Garrison, are of the opinion that modern geology began in the medieval Islamic world.[51] Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni (973–1048 CE) was one of the earliest Muslim geologists, whose works included the earliest writings on the geology of India, hypothesizing that the Indian subcontinent was once a sea.[52] Islamic Scholar Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 981–1037) proposed detailed explanations for the formation of mountains, the origin of earthquakes, and other topics central to modern geology, which provided an essential foundation for the later development of the science.[53][54] In China, the polymath Shen Kuo (1031–1095) formulated a hypothesis for the process of land formation: based on his observation of fossil animal shells in a geological stratum in a mountain hundreds of miles from the ocean, he inferred that the land was formed by erosion of the mountains and by deposition of silt.[55]

Okay, I'll rephrase that—every geological theory that we currently believe to be true relies upon the plate tectonics theory being correct. The plate tectonic theory was only developed in the 70's. 95% of all widely accepted geological theories from before the plate tectonic theory are total bunk, and the other 5% weren't so much as theories as observations that we didn't understand until the creation of the plate tectonic theory. (Sort of an "ooh, that's why that works," moment).

Long story short, the geology studied 50+ years ago is radically different from the geology we study today. Meanwhile, our understanding of the 'core sciences' haven't changed much since we kicked mysticism to the curb (such as the evolution of alchemy into chemistry, which wasn't an evolution so much as a "why waste time turning lead into gold when I can turn chemicals into money?" moment).